Social worker challenges Lexington incumbent

A political novice has stepped forward to become the first candidate to challenge an incumbent in any of the county's municipal elections this year.

Janice Hunter, a social worker with the Davidson County Department of Social Services, will make her first foray into politics by attempting to win the Lexington Ward 1 seat held by incumbent Louise Miller.

Hunter was the only candidate to file Friday at the board of elections office.

"It's nothing personal," Hunter said. "I just feel it's time for me to step up to the plate."

She noted that Miller and her mother are good friends, and she and Miller's son, Bennett, are also friends. In fact, before filing, Hunter went to visit Miller to talk about it.

"As my elder, I felt I owed her that respect," Hunter said.

Miller was appointed to the council in August 2000, to fill the unexpired term of her late husband, Charles Miller, who had represented the ward since 1991. She ran against two challengers in 2001, winning the election with 63.5 percent of the vote.

Hunter said she has been interested in public service since her first job out of college. She was born and raised in Thomasville, earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from North Carolina Central University in 1977, and took a job with Bedford-Stuyvesant Youth in Action, an anti-poverty program in Brooklyn, N.Y. In that position, Hunter found herself lobbying state government officials in Albany.

She returned to this area in 1983, and she married her husband, Rufus, in 1984. They live on Carters Grove Road and have one son, who is a rising sophomore in college. She has worked for the county since 1999.

"I always said that after my son graduated high school - because my family has always come first - that I would go ahead and step up," Hunter explained. "... I'm interested in the quality of life for residents of the city. ... I feel that I can bring a fresh view to the council as far as representing the people of the community."

She said she thinks current council members have done a good job, but she would like to see more young people with children get involved in community issues.

Hunter has served on the boards of Habitat for Humanity and the Lexington Family Enrichment Center. She is a member of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority and served as chairwoman of the finance committee at First Missionary Baptist Church in Thomasville. She and her husband currently attend Thomasville Church of Christ.

"If elected to the position, my commitment would be to do the best thing, the just thing and the right thing, according to the laws of God," Hunter said.

One full week into the five-week filing period that ends Aug. 5, a total of nine candidates have filed for 21 available municipal offices in the county.

Incumbent mayors Richard Thomas of Lexington and Scotty Morris of Denton have filed, but Joe Bennett, mayor of Thomasville, has not revealed his intentions. Allen Todd has put his name on the ballot for mayor in Wallburg's first election but, like Thomas and Morris, faces no competition thus far.

One candidate, Jerry Roark, has emerged for town commissioner in Wallburg, but there are five seats to be filled.

One lone at-large Thomasville City Council challenger, Raleigh York Jr., has filed so far. Other challengers, as well as incumbents Sue Hunter of Ward 1, Marie Culbreth of Ward 2, Ricky Murphy of Ward 4, and at-large incumbents Danny Oakley and Joe Hedgpeth, appear to be waiting to see if a federal judge will rule on allowing the city to elect all seven council members at large.

And no candidates have yet filed for the Denton Town Board of Commissioners, where three of five at-large seats are on the ballot.

The four-year terms of incumbents Stewart Sexton and Jim Dobbins are expiring, and under Denton's charter, Deanna Grubb, who was appointed after the death of Ira Craven, must win the remaining two years of the term at the ballot box.

At this point, Lexington's council races are attracting more interest. In addition to Hunter challenging Miller, two candidates, Frank Leonard Jr. and Wayne Alley, are vying for Ward 4, where longtime incumbent councilwoman Helen Brinkley is retiring from the post.

Ward 3 incumbent George Clifton is also retiring, and the only candidate to date appears to be his favored replacement, Jerry Hedrick, a personal friend and fellow American Legion Post 8 member.

Ward 2 incumbent Donald McBride is seeking re-election but no names have surfaced as challengers to him.

Eric Frazier can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 226, or eric.frazier@the-dispatch.com.